"The Starlings Were You" by Robert Okaji from SHŌ POETRY JOURNAL

Today's poem is by Robert Okaji

The Starlings Were You

Morning was a jaundiced memory,
a burnished smear on the kettle
shrilling its warning. Another
prayer siphoned into oblivion.
As when I became in winter
an old man, frail and unclothed,
tending to his barren trees.
The starlings at the feeder were you.
And the black ice in the alley.
How frightening it was to be
so incomplete, so ready. Now
I gather warmth and tinder, place
them in the box, surrendering myself.
What will you do next, I ask. What.

Copyright © 2025 Robert Okaji All rights reserved
from Shō Poetry Journal
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission

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